- Title: Alan Wake’s American Nightmare
- Year: 2012
- Platform: Windows (via Steam; played on Steam Deck)
- Also available for Windows (via Epic Games Store, GOG, and Microsoft Store) & Xbox 360
- Developer: Remedy Entertainment & Nitro Games
- Publisher: Remedy Entertainment
- Played: Story Mode on Normal Difficulty, a little bit of Fight ‘Till Dawn, 6/12 Steam Achievements unlocked
Note: Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is a Steam Deck Verified title.
Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is sort of an expansion pack to the original game and for a long time, it was the closest thing fans go to a full-fledged sequel before an actual Alan Wake 2 finally happened. While the game remains available on PC and Xbox via backwards compatibility, it curiously did not get remastered like the first game did. Remedy’s communications director Thomas Puha explained in an interview that are no plans to do so as the original Alan Wake and its DLCs already form a “sensible” experience. In other words, Remedy does not see American Nightmare as a necessary entry for people to play. Personally, I am inclined to agree, even though I did have some fun with the game.
American Nightmare’s story is framed as an episode of Night Springs, a Twilight Zone homage that occasionally pops up in the first game. Alan (Matthew Poretta), the so-called “champion of light”, finds himself in Night Springs, Arizona after being trapped in an alternate dimension called the Dark Place for two years. At the town, Alan chases after Mr. Scratch (Poretta), Alan’s evil doppelganger and the so-called “herald of darkness”, who first appeared at the very end of the original game.
Coming off the memorable narrative of the original game, there isn’t a whole lot to say about American Nightmare‘s. It’s serviceable but it’s a marginal update to Alan’s journey and it does almost nothing to address the threads left open by the original game’s ending. The game also doesn’t have a particularly strong cast. Alan is about the only interesting character and that is largely due to him being the established main protagonist of the series. I kind of appreciate the expanded depiction of Scratch. The first game introduced him for one scene and then proceeded to do nothing with him, even in the DLC levels where Alan is literally fighting with himself. I do find Scratch one dimensional in this game but his constant jabs and taunts at Alan and his ability to have his presence felt even when offscreen does set him apart from the villains of the first game, most of whom I found to be underdeveloped.
Like its predecessor, American Nightmare plays out as a third-person action adventure in which Alan has to fend off the Taken with his flashlight and weapons on his way to his objective. Enemies are protected by the power of darkness and exposing them to enough light will render them vulnerable to gunfire. There are some minor adjustments to basic mechanics. The flashlight recharges much faster this time around. Alan’s max health is divided into three sections and he can’t regenerate a fully lost section until he reaches a safe haven. Overall though, the game more or less plays the same as the original title.
A bunch of new weapons are added into American Nightmare. In the first game, Alan can only find a revolver, a shotgun, and a hunting rifle for him to use. Those are admittedly all the weapon types Alan needs, there’s no denying that Alan uses the same three types for around a dozen hours. It’s refreshing then that Alan gets to use new firearms such as a nailgun and a SMG. I am a little amused that Alan can now use full auto weapons (no wonder this game has American in its title) but it is satisfying mowing down the Taken for a change. A major problem to the arsenal however is that it is pretty difficult to experiment. In order to gain access to new weapons, you need to collect enough manuscript pages found throughout the game. This means that unless you’re being a completionist, it’s unlikely for you to unlock some of the later guns. It also doesn’t help that you pretty much can just stick with whatever loadout you come up with at the start as the game is pretty generous with giving you ammo.
There are also some new enemies to liven up the gameplay. For example, you have one enemy type that can split itself apart into clones when you shine light on them. Another can fly around and shapeshift to catch you by surprise. Coming off of the first game where you pretty much fight the same three enemy types over and over again, these enemies are a breath of fresh air. My only nitpick with them is that some of the endgame fights are chaotic with how many different enemy types gets thrown you at once.
At first, I quite enjoyed American Nightmare‘s levels. The Arizonan desert vista of Night Springs is a nice contrast to the rural forestry of Bright Falls. The levels are somewhat open but they’re not as empty or padded as those found in the first Alan Wake. Alan technically drives around in this game but the terrible and superflous vehicle system from the first game has wisely been removed and any driving in this game happens via a cutscene. Unfortunately, the monotony of the first game does resurface in American Nightmare. There are only three areas in the game and you go through them multiple times, including their respective objectives. The plot does offer a justification for this and the objectives do get streamlined upon every revisit. Still, the fact remains that you’re doing stuff over and over again. The repetition in American Nightmare is only somewhat bearable as the game is much shorter than the first game, clocking in at an average of 3 or 4 hours (about one fourth of the original’s average play time).
In addition to its story mode, American Nightmare includes an arcade mode called “Fight ‘Till Dawn”, where Alan must defend himself against waves of enemies within a time limit for a high score. Depending on the score, you”ll receive a rating of up to three stars. At the time of writing this review, I frankly only dabbled in this mode for a little bit. That is 100% on me but in my defense, you do so much fighting in Alan Wake anyway that doing even more of that isn’t really on my to-do list. Still, having enjoyed the core mechanics and the new additions, I still had some fun with the mode. It’s worth noting that the availability of weapons depends on how many manuscript pages you’ve collected in story mode so you may want to hold off on completing this mode until after a 100% run of the story.
Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is a decent entry in the series. The gameplay is better in some areas, namely the expanded arsenal and enemy roster. Conversely, the game doesn’t have a story as compelling as the first one’s and the repetition that held the original back still persists in this one. American Nightmare can be fun but you won’t miss out on much if you choose to skip it.
Score: 6/10
Pros (+): Refreshing, new weapons and enemies
Cons (-): Story isn’t as strong as the first game’s, repetitive levels
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